The North East Film Archive is one of a network of regional film archives established to collect, preserve and show film made in, or about the North East of England. Our collections are non-fiction, and date from the early 1900s to the present day, providing a rich record of life in the region over the 20th century. Many of our films are available to watch, free of charge, on our website.
This film is part of Free
Half the Battle's Won
An early example of integrating people with learning difficulties at a time when ideas of normalisation and community care were emerging.
From the collection of:
Overview
This Tyne Tees TV film is the earliest of three documentaries about the Botton Camphill community in North Yorkshire, made over a 30-year period. It makes for an interesting comparison with the later two: more paternalistic, with little film of residents with special needs at work or in the community, and no interviews with them. Instead it focuses on the events around their silver jubilee and interviews with the parents of those residents and with their co-workers.
Botton Village grew from a former estate with three farms in 1955, the first of the Camphill communities based on the principles of Rudolph Steiner. By the time this film was made, four others had emerged. As well as the village community, a Steiner school was also founded there in 1960. It is unclear from the documentary however, just how much the Village actually was, or is, run according to the controversial views of Rudolph Steiner.